I had a book, How to Sail. Every day I went through it and memorised names and mentally practiced the ritual of getting under sail. The armchair sailors in the…
Cruising life
Jonty Pearce: Drying out
We lowered our Southerly 105 into the waters of the Weaver Navigation at Northwich in 2009, and she has not been lifted out since. We had taken the wise step…
Alan Villiers: The War With Cape Horn
Sixty-two days out from Tocopilla, Chile, the Pitlochry, a four-masted barque, 319ft long, was off Terschelling, having breasted a Force 8 gale up the English Channel dashing along at 16…
Jonty Pearce: Dale Regatta
The sun beat down while a gentle zephyr of breeze ruffled our hair, and we enjoyed an onboard salad lunch lubricated with Pimms. Beside us the dinghy racers drifted and…
Bob Roberts: Coasting Bargemaster
More and bigger ships were using the river, and once or twice I spent my spare hours walking the banks of the lower reaches, watching the interminable stream of traffic…
A wild ride around the toe of Africa
The coast of Southern Africa can be a cold, windy, inhospitable place, so we decided to tour South Africa and then Namibia by land. But first, we needed a safe,…
Jonty Pearce: A Slushy Field
For several decades I have acted as Medical Officer for our local steam fair. I have no doubt that my lifelong love of steam was inherited from my father, who…
George Carter: Looming Lights
I reported for duty and found myself aboard a Trinity steamer, which was to put me aboard a ‘fog-ship’, the North Sand Head light vessel, stationed on the Goodwin Sands.…
Jonty Pearce – Finding the one
I was amused to read an advert by Berthon for a Southerly 110 which suggested that the yacht came ‘from the wizards of variable draft, with a Tardis like interior,…
Jonty Pearce: Weighing up anchors
My mate, Simon, called me for advice on anchor chains. Perhaps stung by my accusation that he was anchor-shy, he and Sue have decided to update Navassa’s ground tackle. They…